Ethan Stanley Arc
The Ethan Stanley Arc is the twenty-first arc in the History Strongest Disciple: Kenichi manga series and the eleventh arc in the Yami/YOMI Saga. Story *'Child in a Death Match?' The arc begins with Kenichi Shirahama sweeping Ryouzanpaku’s porch with heavier statues as punishment for leaving with Miu Fūrinji. Kenichi heard that Mikumo Kushinada is Chikage Kushinada’s master and the masters had to speed up his training. At school, Kenichi was in pain from his brutal training. He thanked Renka Ma for fighting in his place, but was soon scared when he sensed Ethan Stanley also known as Pollux behind him. However, he saw that Chikage was being more honest to herself. Chikage was confused on why the seeds she planted didn’t grow into buds so Kenichi explained it to her. Chikage was about to deliver a duel challenge to Kenichi, but Miu snatched it away from her. However, Kenichi took it and will only accept her challenge when the time comes and if there’s no other way. At Ryouzanpaku dojo, Hayato Fūrinji explained to the other masters that he fought with Mikumo against Yami when they were younger but parted ways and hadn't heard from her since. Back at school,Chikage was getting ready to fight Kenichi, but was invited to a birthday party by another girl. She ate cake and sung on the karaoke with the other guest and Siegfried at the party set up by Haruo Niijima. Niijima set it up so Kenichi wouldn't have to fight her. *'Castor's Brother' At Kushinada dojo, Chikage was punishing herself for failing to fight Kenichi until she was approached by Cyril Rahman from Yami. Cyril believed that the passion of martial arts should be returned by martial arts. Back at school, Nijima told Kenichi why Chikage didn’t come to fight which relieved them. Nijima was about to show everyone the embarrassing photos until his camera was crushed by Ethan though he gave Nijima money back for the broken camera. Ikki Takeda, Kōzō Ukita, Kisara Nanjō, and Siegfried showed up, but Ethan already left. Kenichi went into the bathroom with Ethan to say that he wanted to give Kenichi an important message. At the Boston Tea Party Cafe, Ethan apologized to Kenichi for what his sister had done. He wanted to request something from Kenichi, but was alerted that he had to a mission. Kenichi followed Ethan while the latter explained that he was fighting for his sister. At Yami Headquarters, Rachel was placed under house arrest and had to undergo experiments. Rachel took her master’s mask and was about to escape by motorcycle only for Kajima to smash the motorcycle and return her back to her room. At a mansion, Ethan and Kenichi were sneaking around as Ethan was stealing a treasure to return to a royal family. He knocked out two guards before they could see their faces. Ethan then proposed to Kenichi to give up martial arts so that Yami could treat him that he died. But Kenichi refused, since he has someone to protect. At school, Kenichi’s friends heard about the news and will be training until he needs their help. He visited Chikage at the Gardening Club, but Chikage ran away for skipping on her battle against Kenichi. Chikage saw Ethan who told her that he gave Kenichi his emblem for a duel challenge and wanted Chikage present for their battle. He also thanked her and her master for having Rachel put in her aid. Kenichi was being protected by the Shinpaku Alliance while in school under Nijima’s orders. Miu came to lecture Chikage about making friends by talking to people, but Chikage told Miu it’s too late. Chikage explained that Pollux fights at full strength at the beginning of the fight meaning Kenichi will die. *'More of Elder's Training' At Ryouzanpaku dojo, Kenichi was explaining the way Ethan fights and the elder saw it was Kalarippayattu Fighting Style. Akisame Kōetsuji explained that fighting style is from India and the original martial arts. Miu was worried that the master can’t keep resurrecting Kenichi so the elder decided to give Kenichi some more training. Kenichi ran away fearing how difficult it would be, but Shio Sakaki caught him. The elder told Kenichi that he would be taught a new technique for his fight against Pollux. At Kushinada Dojo, Chikage was training as she was being thrown around by Mikumo, but was distracted by looking at some flowers to find out how long it’ll take for them to bloom. Mikumo told Chikage to be more like Pollux who she believes is like a swinging blade. Pollux was continuing his missions without pause to improve Castor’s position. He just saved a businessman from a group of thus before going to the Shinjuku Station. The elder took Kenichi to some tall buildings, since the mountains were too far away. Kenichi had to walk on the edge of the roof without falling off. The elder had Miu demonstrate when Kenichi was scared of going. Next, Kenichi had to walk on the edge while trying to dodge the elder’s attacks. Kenichi was determined to learn a new technique to fight against YOMI that’s also getting stronger. Elsewhere, Pollux was rescuing a young girl from the Yami’s Weapon Division Department. They were faced by a master fighter so they jumped and Pollux used Mallakhamb to grab onto a pole with his legs and slid down with the girl. The master let them get away in a limo, since he had already killed the main targets. A businessman was thinking about buying Castor to keep her safe, but Pollux punched his head through the window after taking it as an insult. The girl was hoping that his sister would be okay. The elder had Kenichi over a line he drew which Kenichi did with ease. But when the elder wanted him to jump to another building, Kenichi wanted to run away. The elder threw Kenichi over to the next building which forced Kenichi to jump to the next one out of fear. The elder explained to Kenichi that it will combine everything Kenichi has learned up until now into his ultimate technique. The elder was sliding bricks to Kenichi and had him step on them, but Kenichi slipped on one of the falling bricks. Luckily, Kenichi perfected his center of gravity by stepping on the building walls and landed on the ground safely. The elder then took Kenichi to an arcade for his next part of training while Miu went to shop. The elder wanted Kenichi to run through the crowd, but scolded Kenichi for not thinking and causing trouble. The elder ran through the crowd and back, but without anyone noticing him. Kenichi thought it would take him a decade to learn that, but saw Miu rushed through the crowd without anyone noticing her while bringing back groceries. At school, Miu was coming from Gymnastic Club telling Chikage to become friends with Kenichi only to start a fight. But when Kenichi and Izumi came, it looked like they were only playing. Chikage made Miu run away when she had dumped water on her leotard exposing her body. Kenichi brought Chikage to her flowerbed showing her that her plants are starting to sprout. When a brick fell, Kenichi suddenly stood on it with one leg by reflex. Kenichi noticed Chikage was talking more, but told Kenichi he will die soon. At Ryouzanpaku, Kenichi was sparring against Sakaki, Ma, Akisame, and then Apachai before having to do some training with the elder on the buildings. The masters had noticed that Kenichi had stabilized his balance. At Yami Headquarters, Rachel Stanley was doing training Shō Kanō had done. The scientists were impressed of what she’s capable of while Kensei was asking Akira Hongō and Silcardo Jenazad if they would take her as one of their new students. Kensei didn’t want Rachel as his new student, since he still has use for Ryūto Asamiya and had picked a few people to go through Ryūto’s training. Silcardo told them that he will remove the color (Lucha Libre) from Rachel while eating an apple. At the Boston Tea Party Cafe; Kenichi, Ethan, and Chikage (who’s ordering sweets) were discussing the fight’s conditions. Kenichi noticed that Ethan has wounds all over his body, but Ethan told him to ignore while explaining to him the fight is tomorrow and Kenichi’s head will be a present to the Kushinada Dojo. Back at Ryouzanpaku, Kenichi was ashamed that he didn’t learn any new styles. But the elder had Kenichi fight someone to prepare for his match against Pollux which was Gnaryu X. *'Kenichi vs. Pollux' The next day somewhere, Hayato had a reunion with Mikumo and wanted her to stop injected darkness into children. Mikumo was misleading the elder by talking about the times when they had fought Yami in the past. She believed Kenichi would disappear by the seeds of fear being sowed. However, the elder still believes Kenichi will win. Mikumo explained that people get stronger by fear. At an abandoned facility, Sakaki dropped off Kenichi and Miu for the fight. The two went inside and saw Pollux ready to battle in a loincloth with Chikage as their witness. Pollux started off with a strong attack, but Kenichi survived it and countered with strong attacks of his own. Miu explained to Chikage that Kenichi was heated up on his arrival by facing the elder’s life-threatening sparring. Pollux struck a critical point on Kenichi making the latter’s movements slower. Kenichi tried to use his Seikuken with one arm, but sensed in Pollux’s eyes that he’s scared. Chikage explained to Kenichi that Castor has been put into house arrest and without a master; she may be placed into Silcardo’s care. However, if Kenichi is killed, Castor may be placed into Cyril’s care. Pollux attacked Kenichi’s breathing spots to disrupt his techniques. Kenichi had to laugh in a pinch while coming up with a strategy only for Pollux to throw him around and kick through Kenichi’s dougi and chainmail. Chikage noticed that Kenichi has been affected by Pollux’s spirit and was hoping to save Castor from Silcardo so she wouldn’t be killed. Chikage was soon overcome with fear of Kenichi dying after spending some time with him. Suddenly, Kenichi countered Pollux’s kick with a punch showing that Kenichi had to worry about other things after defeating Pollux. Pollux’s body was tough yet flexible like a whip from the special training oil he used. Kenichi was unable to use Mubyoshi with his injured left hand and Pollux was charging in to give the finishing blow. However, Kenichi won the fight by using the second technique taught by the elder, Korui Nuki, which poured of all of Kenichi’s power into a kick that broke Pollux’s guard. Ethan remembered the times he had with his sister before falling down, but Kenichi caught him. Chikage hit Kenichi’s broken hand when he thanked her, but she healed the hand. Kenichi called his masters who are with the police to tell them the information to save Rachel while they’re invading one of Yami’s bases. Miu finished healing Ethan’s wound and prepared to go rescue Rachel when Ethan wakes up. Back with the elder and Mikumo, Mikumo heard the bad news from Chikage about Pollux’s defeat and the elder taunted for Kenichi's victory. *'Saving Castor from Jenazad' At one of the Yami bases, Akisame knew that Yami is popular with the upper echelons of the government. He planned to use a blitzkrieg technique to get in with Kensei Ma and Sakaki, but were all stopped by the chief. The chief had his men go in alone after hearing that the people inside are few and have no weapons. The men surrounded one man, but it was Cyril and he used Mantra to stop the men’s organs. The three masters rushed inside and saw the terror, but Akisame and Ma saved them before they would’ve died. Cyril got on the helicopter, but Sakaki barely got on before the vehicle took off. Unfortunately, Silcardo was also waiting on the helicopter. Sakaki found an unconscious Rachel next to Silcardo. Cyril decided to fight Sakaki one-on-one to make it fair. Sakaki kick the floor tiles of the helicopter at the two Yami masters. Kenichi, Miu, and Ethan were brought to the police by Chikage. Inspector Honmaki allowed them to enter, since Kenichi and Miu were part of Ryouzanpaku. Kenichi informed Akisame and Ma that Silcardo is also on the helicopter making the master worry, but Kenichi believes that Sakaki would get Rachel back to Ethan. Back at the helicopter, Cyril hit some of Sakaki’s pressure points, but Sakaki cancelled it by tightening his muscles and grabbed Cyril’s beard. Cyril then used his Fear Mantra, but not only was Sakaki not affected, he also knocked out the pilot. Silcardo was about to jump in to fight Sakaki, but Sakaki got Rachel and jumped out of the helicopter and landed in some trees. *'Goodbyes' At the Boston Tea Party Cafe, Ethan thanked Kenichi for helping Rachel as Chikage was ordering some sweets. Ethan also reported that Silcardo is no longer interested in Rachel and is now in custody of his master. However, Silcardo is now interested in a death match with Sakaki and interested in Kenichi. Ethan is now going back to India where Cyril is to be retrained as part of YOMI. Kenichi wanted Ethan to say goodbye to everyone at school, but Ethan responded that it was a fake life with fake friends. At Ryouzanpaku, Kenichi was holding up some heavy statues on his back by Akisame’s orders. He told about what he heard from Ethan and wondering if the Korui Nuki was what the elder was actually training him for. The master had laughed, but they knew that attack would defeat any disciple class fighter. At the airport, Ethan told Rachel that Kenichi wasn’t suited for fighting, but had a huge heart. They were about to leave until Kenichi and Miu came with everyone that the Stanley Siblings knew from school (except the Shinpaku Alliance). Kenichi and Ethan shook hands before the plane left for India. Suddenly, Kenichi was given a letter by Rachel that showed that only Ethan is going to India and Ethan told Kenichi to take care of Rachel. Major Fights Story Impact *Thanks to Haruo Niijima, Kenichi Shirahama was able to avoid fighting Chikage Kushinada *Ethan Stanley was defeated by Kenichi and went back to India for retraining *Rachel Stanley is still in Japan, but put under Cyril Rahman's care *Silcardo Jenazad is interested in fighting Shio Sakaki, and Kenichi. References Navigation Category:Story arcs